Water gate

ABSTRACT

A water gate for a waterway movable from a closed to an open position and return having means to maintain its level of flotation constant to the surface of the water in the waterway and means to maintain it in a level aspect during traverse from a closed to an open position and return.

United States Patent [1 1 Halpern et al.

[ Nov. 4, 1975 WATER GATE [76] Inventors: Richard L. Halpern, 3024 NE. 21st St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33305; Carl L. Skiles, 6321 SW. 5th Place, Plantation, Fla. 33317 [22] Filed: Nov. 11, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 522,582

[52] US. Cl. 61/28; 61/8; 61/64 [51] Int. (1 E0213 7/50 [58] Field Of Search 61/7, 8, 9, 22 R, 28, 64

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 610,548 9/1898 Manny 61/8 1,064,908 6/1913 Hornung 2,568,751 9/1951 Larsen 61/64 3,302,413 2/1967 Burnett 61/64 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,039,950 9/1958 Germany 61/8 449,756 6/1936 United Kingdom 61/8 Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Assistant Examiner-David H. Corbin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Carl V. Wisner, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A water gate for a waterway movable from a closed to an open position and return having means to maintain its level of flotation constant to the surface of the water in the waterway and means to maintain it in a level aspect during traverse from a closed to an open position and return.

1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures Sheet 1 of 2 3,916,628

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 2 of 2 3,916,628

U.S. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 3. o. -vu. fl x WATER GATE- This invention is directed to a gate, usually utilized in pairs, .for a waterway connecting two bodies; of water.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION plants, shrubs and trees. Maintenance of this greenery requires continuous application of fertilizers, the runoff from which transports undesirable nutrients to the lake, the result of which is the proliferation of. algae and botanicals and pollution in the lake. Governmental authorities exercising jurisdiction over pollution control forbid the connection of such polluted lakes with unpollutedstreams or lake s so that boating activities of riparian ownersin such polluted lakes are confined to the lake, which may be of limited extent.

To maximize the enjoyment of such riparian owners, access to other bodies of water is desirable but hitherto has been foreclosed by the objections of such govemmental authorities.

vMy invention permits the containment of such pollution within the polluted body of water, however, permitting access by such riparian owners to other bodies of water through the means provided.

A second circumstance requiring solution arises where seasonal variations between the level of water of the polluted and unpolluted bodies of water vary substantially by reason of excessive or limited rainfall and variablesin the rate or extent of evaporation. In some locations, this seasonal variation may be as much as five feet. In such circumstances, it is desirable that the I THE PRIOR ART The provision of gates or locks for navigable streams or estuaries is, of course, ancient. Provision of gates which are transverse to a navigable body of water are shown is Seeley US. Pat. No. 28,201 of May 8, 1860, Pouchet, et al., US. Pat. No. 227,831 of May 18, 1880, and Peary U.S. Pat. No. 339,458 of Apr. 6, 1886. None of these are directed to, nor do they provide any suggestion of a solution for, the problems which are resolved by the instant invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION To permit a pollution-free connection of a polluted with an unpolluted body of water or an estuary or streams, I provide a pair of gates which, except for a limited time interval, confine the pollutants to the polluted body of water and prevent their dissemination to or intrusion into connected bodies of water which would otherwise be pollutionfree. The devices about to be described are acceptable to pollutioncontrol authorities in the State of Florida where the problem here solved is of wide extent.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of achannel with a gate, the top thereof being partly'broken away to show water-holding compartments;

FIG. 2 is a section along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section along the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG 4 is a section along the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view, similar to FIG. 1, but partly broken away, showing'the gate moving toward an open p0- sltiong FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view showing the aspect control device;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation show-- ing the functioning of the aspect control device.

One of the problems, I have found, in the design of a structure of the type described in that means must be provided so that the gate is maintained in a level aspect during the traverse from a closed to an open position and the return to the closed position. If such aspect is not controlled, in the traverse from the closed to the openposition, the bottom of the gate at the proximal end will drag in the channel at the bottom of the proximal recess with damage to the structure. The converse happens to the distal end of the gate in its traverse from the open to a closed position. When a level aspect of the gate is maintained through the means disclosed, this wear is avoided'and the gate will operate with minimal maintenance for an indefinite period of time. Referring now to FIG. 1, a waterway l l is shown containing water 12, and a bottom 13, FIG. 3. On the sides of the waterway are sheet piling 14, 14, protected by a cap, 15, FIGS. 1, 2. Along the side of the waterway are guide planks 16, FIG. 1, to protect the sheet piling, 14, 14, from abrasion in the event contactwith the sides of a vessel occurs. The piling may be made of any conventional construction material.

On one side of the waterway is a proximal recess 17 to receive the gate, indicated generally at 18, when the waterway is in an open position; opposite is a distal recess 19 to receive the distal end of the gate when the waterway is closed. In the bottom of the waterway l 1 is a guide channel 20, FIG. 3, in which the gate rides during its traverse from the closed to an open position and vice versa.

A means for traversing the gate 18 from a closed to an open position and return is shown generally at 25 and includes an operating cable 26, preferably a chain drive, passing over an idler sprocket 27, each end being wound around the sprocket 28 driven by a motor 29, all enclosed in a housing 31. Within the housing is a double-acting pump 30 connected by hoses, not shown, to the valves 34 at the top of each of the compartments 23 for the addition to or suction from selected compartments by the double-action pump 30. Vents, 36, are provided at the top of each of the compartments 23 to equalize the air within the compartment when fluid is added to or withdrawn therefrom.

The aspect of the gate is controlled by the arrangements shown in FIGS. 5-7. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the mechanism, partly broken away; FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the aspect control mechanism and FIG. 7 is a schematic showing the functioning of the device when a load is applied in the direction of the area to the closure of the gate, the angularity of the rods being ex- 3 aggerated for clarity.

The aspect controlling device comprises a pair of spaced cylindrical vertical rods, 41, 41, FIG. 6, of circular cross-section mounted at the proximal ends of the gate. Riding upwardly and downwardly on the rods 41-41 is a roller 42, mounted on an axle 44, carried in the yoke 43, to either end of which the operating chain 26 is connected. The fit of the roller 42 on the rods 4l-4l is loose, as shown, but the flanges on the roller extend outwardly enough so that at no time can the roller be disengaged from the rods. Above and below the roller 42 are a pair of stops, an upper 45, and a lower 46, which restrict the rollers movement upwardly and downwardly on the rods 4l4l. In the chain 26, immediately contiguous to its connection with the yoke 43, I interpose a pair of stretchable sections, 47, 47. These sections compensate for the surge of force in either direction at the instant of its application and tend to implement the control of the aspect of the gate. I have found that material sold under the tradename Bengi is suitable for this purpose although equivalents would be the insertion of stiff helical springs in place of the flexible material.

The functioning of the device is shown schematically in FIG. 7, the angle of the rods 41, 41, to the vertical being exaggerated for purposes of clarity. At the moment of the application of force to move the chain 26 in the direction of the arrow, FIG. 6, the roller 42 can ride upwardly on the rods 41-41 as shown in the dashed line, FIG. 7, until it makes contact with the upper stop 45. This will tend to force the return of the rods to the vertical and maintain the aspect of the gate in a level position. When the gate is moved in the direction opposite to that of the arrow, FIG. 6, the movement of the roller 42 will be upwardly against the upper stop 45. If a rocking motion should develop, then the lower stop 46 will limit the extent of such motion.

The positioning of the gate 18 through variations in the water level is shown in FIG. 3. Abnormally high water is shown by the dot-dash line above the normal water level as shown. 'As the level of the water changes, the gate moves upwardly to the position shown in the dashed line, FIG. 3, it being understood that the gate is so dimensioned that, whatever the level of the water may be, its bottom will still be confined within the guide channel 20 so that passage of water beneath the gate cannot occur.

Operating of the gate 18 is controlled by upstream switch 32 and downstream switch 33, FIG. 1. These may be either manual, or activated through remote radio devices, which are conventional and not shown. It is important, of course, that automatic closing means be provided, if the boat operator, in his passage through the gate, neglects to reverse its position after passing through the gate. While I have only shown one gate, it is to be understood that normally, governmental authorities having cognizance of pollution control require the installation of a pair of gates. In such circumstance, automatic means for preventing the opening of one gate until the other is closed should be utilized. These are conventional and, naturally, not'shown.

It should be obvious from the foregoing that I have provided a relatively inexpensive and completely effective means, satisfactory to the authorities having cognizance of pollution, to prevent the transmission, to the extent possible, of pollution from a polluted to an unpolluted body of water.

Having fully described my invention, I claim:

1. A water gate for a waterway including, in combination a waterway,

a floating gate across said waterway, in its closed position the distal end thereof being disposed in a distal recess at one side of the waterway and the opposite end thereof intruding into a proximal recess on the opposite side of said waterway,

a channel at the bottom of the waterway, co-linear with said recesses, the lower portion of said floating gate being disposed in said channel and slidable from its engagement with the distal recess along said channel to enter for its full length into the proximal recess, leaving said waterway open to traffic,

means to slide said floating gate from its closed position to its open position and to return it to its closed position, and

means to maintain said gate in a level aspect during the traverse from the closed to the open position and its return to the closed position, and

compartments in said gate fillable with fluid to maintain said gate in an optimum flotation position relative to the surface of the water in the waterway, and

said floating gate being free to rise and fall within said channel and said proximal and distal recesses as the level of water in the waterway changes. 

1. A water gate for a waterway including, in combination a waterway, a floating gate across said waterway, in its closed position the distal end thereof being disposed in a distal recess at one side of the waterway and the opposite end thereof intruding into a proximal recess on the opposite side of said waterway, a channel at the bottom of the waterway, co-linear with said recesses, the lower portion of said floating gate being disposed in said channel and slidable from its engagement with the distal recess along said channel to enter for its full length into the proximal recess, leaving said waterway open to traffic, means to slide said floating gate from its closed position to its open position and to return it to its closed position, anD means to maintain said gate in a level aspect during the traverse from the closed to the open position and its return to the closed position, and compartments in said gate fillable with fluid to maintain said gate in an optimum flotation position relative to the surface of the water in the waterway, and said floating gate being free to rise and fall within said channel and said proximal and distal recesses as the level of water in the waterway changes. 